At the Beginning
by Sokka's Fan-Lawyer
Summary: This isn't my story, this is Ayumu's. This is a friendship songfic for Eiji & Oishi to the song "At the Beginning" by Donna Lewis & Richard Marx. NOT YAOI!


Hey, everybody

Hey, everybody! Ayumu-chan here. I share this account with Sokka's Fan-Lawyer. This is my first story and songfic; so don't be too harsh, all right? This is to "At the Beginning" by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx for Eiji and Oishi. I know the song is more for couples, but I used it as a friendship thing. You might want to watch PoT episode 162: The Memories of the Golden Pair to get the story a little better, but you don't really need to.

Disclaimer: I do not own "At the Beginning" or PoT.

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We were strangers starting out on a journey

_Never dreaming what we'd have to go through_

_Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing_

_At the beginning with you_

Eiji Kikumaru and Shuichiro Oishi were standing in front of a green container at the top of a hill overlooking the city. Eiji had challenged Oishi to a match that day because he heard that Oishi was going to play in the practice match their tennis team was going to have soon against a neighboring school. Oishi hadn't understood why he had been chosen because he hadn't thought his skills were good enough. That made Eiji a little angry, so he challenged Oishi to a match. Oishi won the match and during the match he remembered why he played tennis.

"Hey, Oishi? Want to be my doubles partner?" asked a twelve-year-old Eiji, somewhat timidly.

"Huh? Doubles…. with you?" Oishi muttered, surprised. He wasn't very good at doubles.

"Am I not good?" Eiji asked, worried that Oishi didn't want to pair up with him.

"Ah, no, no; Let's do it!" Oishi said excitedly.

"Yeah!" Eiji cried. He scrambled on top of the green container, and then helped Oishi up as well. "We've got to make it to the top! We've got to be the best doubles pair in out school; no, Japan; no the world!" Eiji exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his arms.

Oishi just laughed.

_No one told me I was going to find you_

_Unexpected what you did to my heart_

_When I lost hope you were there to remind me this is the start_

Oishi lay in his bed, thinking about how he had regained his love for tennis and his confidence in his playing ability that day, thanks to Eiji.

"If I hadn't played Eiji today, I would be lost. I was thinking too much about doing well than having fun and trying my hardest. Eiji reminded me what playing tennis is all about." Oishi thought. "You might end up being a good partner, Eiji"

With the thought of starting doubles with Eiji, Oishi fell asleep.

Life is a road and I want to keep going

_Love is a river I wanna keep flowing_

_Life is road, now and forever; wonderful journey_

_I'll be there when the world stops turning_

_In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you_

Eiji, now thirteen, was looking at the cast on his leg with a mixture of anger and hopelessness as he sat in his bedroom dejectedly.

As his friend Oishi walked into Eiji's room after tennis practice, he burst out:

"Oishi, what am I going to do? With my leg broken, I can't do anything! I'll be out of practice, too, because I won't be able to play for weeks! Ahh, this sucks!" Eiji groaned as he flopped backward onto his bed.

Oishi tried to think of a way to make his best friend feel better about the problem. "Maybe you can't play, but you can read, right? You can look up new formations for us to try while your leg is healing. After your leg is healed, we'll have to work just as hard as we did when we first partnered up to master those formations and make our combination even better! It's something to work towards and look forward to."

Eiji frowned thoughtfully. "Well, book work isn't my forte. But if it's about tennis…" He sat up and looked at Oishi. "That's a good idea. Thanks, Oishi! I'll have my work cut out for me, though… I'll work hard, so you better not slack off!"

"What makes you think I would?" Oishi asked, insulted as Eiji laughed.

"Don't mind, don't mind. Want to come with me to the library to help me get started?"

"Okay. It's on the way to my house anyway. I'm sure my family won't mind if I'm a little late."

With that, the duo left Eiji's room discussing what they should work on when Eiji's leg is healed.

We were strangers on a crazy adventure

_Never dreaming how our dreams would come true_

_Now here we stand, unafraid of the future_

_At the beginning with you_

The two thirteen-year-olds sat on top of the green container. That day they had proven themselves to be the best doubles pair in their tennis club, earning them the name Golden Pair.

"We've made the first step to our goal." Oishi said. "We'll have to work even harder to become number on in Japan."

"I say bring it on, nya! We can beat everybody that takes us on!" Eiji stated confidently.

" 'Nya'? What's that?" Oishi asked, looking at Eiji oddly.

"Nya?" Eiji responded, tilting his head to the side. Oishi just sighed and grinned. That's Eiji for you.

Life is a road and I want to keep going

_Love is a rive I want to keep flowing_

_Life is a road, now and forever; wonderful journey_

_I'll be there when the world stops turning_

_I'll be there when the storm is through_

_In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you_

Oishi was looking at Eiji worriedly as his best friend gasped for breath. Eiji's stamina issue hadn't changed, even though they were now fourteen. Their opponents were pressuring them both, but Eiji was really feeling it. Oishi knew that Eiji had to take a break, or they would lose. He went up to Eiji and told him,

"You need to take a break, or we'll lose this match. I'll cover for you, so you just worry about recovering your strength." Eiji just nodded in reply and then concentrated on getting his breathing under control and to make his legs stop shaking.

As the game went on, it was just Oishi against the other pair. Everybody except Oishi thought Eiji had given up. Oishi was holding up against the opponents, but if it went into tiebreak, he wouldn't be able to last.

Finally it was match point for Oishi and Eiji with 5 games to 4 at 40-30. Oishi served it and began to sprint to where it was being returned: in the alley one the opposite side of the court. Suddenly, his legs gave out for a second and he fell to the court, his racket clattering to the ground.

Eiji saw Oishi fall and forced his legs to run to the ball. He had to use his acrobatic play to reach the ball, but he scored the winning point. They had just won 6 games to 4.

"Just in time, Eiji!" Oishi said as Eiji pulled him up.

"I almost didn't make it, but that doesn't matter. We won, nya!"

"Nya-ing again, huh?" Oishi sighed. "Eiji talks as Eiji wants, I guess." Eiji just grinned as they went to shake hands with the losing team.

Life is a road and I want to keep going

_Love is a river I want to keep flowing_

_Life is a road, now and forever; wonderful journey_

_I'll be there when the world stops turning_

_I'll be there when the storm is through_

"Oishi, let's play doubles together forever."

"Yeah, let's become the number one doubles pair in the world!"

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Sorry I didn't use every verse in the song, but I thought that was enough. I wrote it at about 11: 15 PM to 1:00 AM last night, so I'm satisfied with how it turned out. It changed a lot more than I thought it would when I did the final draft, though…. Oh, well.

Tell me what you thought about it, okay? Reviews are appreciated and at this point, needed.

This is Ayumu-chan, signing off!


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